Britannica
Sources used in this answer
What subjects did the Independent Group discuss at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Pop art
Campbell's Soup Cans, polymer paint on canvas by Andy Warhol, 1962; a selection of five on display in the Museumsquartier, Vienna.
Between 1952 and 1955, the Independent Group met regularly at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art to engage in academic inquiry regarding culture, aiming to bridge the gap between "high" art and popular forms.1
The group discussed a wide range of disparate topics, including:
- Car styling1
- Pulp magazines1
- American science-fiction and other pulp imagery1
These discussions were central to the development of British Pop art, reflecting the members' commitment to understanding the commodity-driven values of the postwar era. Key figures such as Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi were instrumental in these dialogues, with Paolozzi famously lecturing on his collection of pulp imagery in 1952.1